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Hundreds of wild species gained important protections at the 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP20), held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in late 2025. After more than a fortnight of debate among more than 3,200 delegates representing over 160
In Discovering the Okapi: Western Science, Indigenous Knowledge, and the Search for a Rainforest Enigma, Dr. Simon Pooley, a scientist with a particular focus on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence, examines the plight of the endangered okapi—closest living relative of the giraffe—which dwells in the shadows of the Ituri rainforests of northeast Democratic Republic of Congo. He
The Big Cat Public Safety Act (BCPSA), enacted in 2022, ushered in historic protections for lions, tigers, and other big cats. However, a new bill in Congress, HR 7159, seeks to weaken these hard-won protections and line the pockets of special interests at the expense of big cats and public safety. The BCPSA protects communities from
Many bat species use human-made structures for nightly roosts due to habitat loss from human causes. Disturbingly, recent research suggests that bats roosting in commonly used bat boxes often overheat during the summer due to size, box placement, and overcrowding, ultimately leading to mortality in vulnerable bat species. Though research has begun to define both
The Trump administration is seeking to reinstate four regulations issued in 2019 during President Trump’s first term that severely weakened critical Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections. These regulations curtailed protections afforded to threatened species, allowed economic considerations to be weighed when deciding whether to list a species, significantly undermined the process for designating protected habitat,
Dr. Bill Clark The African elephants have lost their great champion. Nature herself has lost a knowledgeable and eloquent advocate. And I have lost a friend. The always-astute Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton has been laid to rest after six decades of determined and usually successful efforts to protect Africa’s elephants from the barbarisms and cruelties of
Turtles have long sparked curiosity and affection, and Sy Montgomery captures humankind’s fascination with them in The True and Lucky Life of a Turtle. This nonfiction book introduces young readers to Fire Chief, a snapping turtle whose decades-long presence in a community is threatened by the town’s growth. With warmth and realism, Montgomery tells Fire Chief’s
In December, the House Natural Resources Committee voted to advance HR 4776, the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act. Targeting the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), our country’s basic charter for protecting the environment, the SPEED Act would narrow the scope of federal actions that receive an environmental review, as well as limit
A Wyoming man has been indicted by a grand jury on a state felony animal cruelty charge for torturing a young gray wolf. In February 2024, Cody Roberts allegedly ran the wolf over with a snowmobile, taped his mouth shut, paraded his listless body around a bar, and posed for photos—laughing and kissing his snout before
When a hunter shoots a deer, elk, or other animal with lead ammunition, the damage extends far beyond the target. Upon impact, the bullet splinters into tiny fragments that scatter throughout the body. Many of these particles are so small they are not detectable even by X-ray, and they are impossible to completely remove from
The ability of individuals to move among habitat patches and disperse to other locations is fundamental to population connectivity. Without such mobility, gene flow between populations is reduced or eliminated. When populations colonize new habitats, such as in urban areas, they can become isolated from the original population. In urban areas, dispersal and migration may
The recently concluded 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP20), held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, resulted in significant victories for wildlife protection. Dozens of species were added to either CITES Appendix I (prohibiting most international trade for commercial purposes) or
On December 2, AWI bestowed the Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award on eight recipients at the 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP20) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The award—launched in 1994 and named in honor of the late chief of
In October, the Trump administration finalized plans to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas development. Designated as a protected area in 1960 and expanded in 1980, ANWR is a region of stunning biodiversity that provides habitat for an estimated 700 species of animals and plants, including
In October, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on wildlife conservation, officially reaffirmed the “endangered” designation of long-tailed macaques (LTMs)—a monkey species used extensively for biomedical research in the United States—on its Red List of Endangered Species. The IUCN’s decision was based on a scientific assessment conducted by species experts that
Wild animals in Kenya’s sprawling (5,308 square meters) Tsavo East National Park are safer today because of AWI’s ongoing sponsorship of a Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Airwing patrol plane based in that park. (See AWI Quarterly, summer 2023). The KWS wildlife protection strategy relies, in part, on vigorous aerial patrols that, most importantly, serve to deter most poachers.
Snares are ubiquitous around the world and are emptying our forests, meadows, wetlands, savannas, jungles, grasslands, and other habitats of wildlife, with particularly devastating effects in Africa. They are inexpensive and easy to fashion from wire, rope, or a variety of other ordinary materials. They are indiscriminate and cruel—catching target or nontarget species alike and
In the shadowy corners of the multibillion-dollar global wildlife industry, a quiet but flourishing market is often overlooked. As media and regulatory attention focuses primarily on illegal and unsustainable trade in high-profile wild animal species, parts, and products (e.g., live parrots, elephant ivory, and tiger bone pharmaceuticals), millions of live and dead invertebrates are also
This summer, AWI worked with Emmy and Tony Award–winning actor Alan Cumming on a video in support of the Captive Primate Safety Act (HR 3199/S 1594) that was posted on AWI social media platforms on July 11. The bill, reintroduced in Congress by Reps. Mike Quigley (D-IL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Julia Brownley (D-CA), and Nancy
The House Natural Resources Committee has continued to pursue a markedly anti-wildlife agenda by teeing up action on an array of bills to weaken and eliminate protections under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The committee spent July holding meetings on bills that would delist the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem